蔡增基:中英借款谈判的推手——李滋罗斯与招商局贷款往来书信解读(1936—1937)

Choy Jun Ke the Facilitator for the Negotiations of the British Loans:An Analysis of the Frederick Leith-Ross’s Correspondences on the China Merchants Steam Navigation Co.,Ltd.,1936-1937

笔者于英国国家档案馆收集到的两份英国财政部档案,是1936—1937年时任财政部顾问李滋罗斯与英国政府不同部门负责人讨论有关招商局贷款问题的来往书信,其中透露了借款谈判鲜为人知的复杂过程,以及英国对招商局和蔡增基所抱态度和施行策略,对于了解1930年代蔡增基主政下的招商局发展,蔡增基为扭转财政危机所采取的策略及与英方谈判时的出色表现,都颇有助益。本文利用这批书信,讨论招商局向英国购买轮船的借款问题,试图弥补1930年代招商局史和中国外债史研究的不足。

Drawing upon the archives of the British Treasury which are housed in the National Archives at Kew,this paper discussed about the views held by Frederick Leith-Ross,who had been the adviser of the Treasury,with the other major department heads of the British government,on the loans to the China Merchants Steam Navigation Co.,Ltd.,during the years of 1936-1937.This paper unveiled the rarely known and complicated process of the negotiation between the governments of China and Britain.The documents analyzed by this paper shown not only the tactics adopted by Choy Jun Ke,who had finally saved the China Merchants Steam Navigation from a financial crisis,but also the Frederick Leith-Ross’s intention of protecting the British shipping industry.The documents are used to unveil the history of China’s foreign debts in general and the management crisis in the 1930s of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Co.,Ltd.in particular.